Pipeline fire ebbs but still burns near Houston
DEER PARK, Texas — A flame that towered over a southeast Houston suburb subsided Tuesday but was still burning after a pipeline explosion that happened when a vehicle drove through a fence along a parking lot and struck an aboveground valve, officials said.
“Progress has been made as first responder crews worked through the night. The fire is significantly smaller,” according to a statement from Deer Park. The city said Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based owner of the pipeline, expected the fire to burn itself out later Tuesday.
City officials said police and FBI agents found no preliminary evidence to suggest a coordinated or terrorist attack, and said it “appears to be an isolated incident,” but they haven’t offered any details on how they came to that conclusion.
Investigators were trying to learn more about the driver of the sport utility vehicle. The car was incinerated by the explosion, which scorched the ground across a wide radius, severed nearby power transmission lines, melted playground equipment and ignited nearby homes. More than 24 hours after the explosion, the driver still had not been publicly identified.
The valve, which appears to have been protected by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, is located within a long, grassy corridor where high-voltage power lines run. Below the ground run several pipelines. On one side of the corridor is a neighborhood of homes; on the other is a Walmart. Officials say the driver went through a fence alongside the Walmart parking lot and across the grassy rightof-way before striking the valve.
Officials have not given any information on the condition of the driver. Deer Park spokesperson Kaitlyn Bluejacket said four people were injured, but provided no details about the seriousness of the injuries. Authorities said one firefighter sustained minor injuries.
The roaring fire shot orange flame and then black smoke hundreds of feet into the air, prompting authorities to evacuate nearly 1,000 homes and order people in nearby schools to shelter in place.
By Tuesday, the city of La Porte said it had slightly reduced the evacuation area south of the fire but did not say how many people were affected.
Operators shut off the flow of natural gas liquids after the explosion rattled homes and businesses in Deer Park and the adjacent suburb of La Porte shortly before 10 a.m. Monday. But Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 20 miles of pipeline stretched between the two closed valves, and all the chemicals inside had to burn off before the fire would stop.
Robert Hall, a senior advisor at the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust, said it’s not surprising that it’s taken more than a day for the material to stop burning.
“You’re talking about 20inch pipelines and miles between valves, so it takes a long time to burn down,” Hall said.
The fire was burning so hot that all firefighters could do was use ladder trucks to hose down nearby houses that began smoking in the radiant heat.
Houston, Texas’ largest city, is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants and thousands of miles of pipelines. Explosions and fires are a familiar sight, and some have been deadly, raising recurring questions about industry efforts to protect the public and the environment.
Energy Transfer did not immediately respond Tuesday to a question about what safety precautions were in place near their valve.
Energy Transfer and Harris County Pollution Control are conducting air monitoring and have found no health issues, according to Deer Park officials.
The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates oil and gas in the state, said Tuesday its safety inspectors will enter the site when it’s safe to do so to begin their investigation.